From the moment your diners step in the door, they expect to be wowed by everything from the service to the food, the assortment of wines on offer and the way that the environment makes them feel.
Restaurant design is just one part of the package that you are trying to create as a small or large business, however it is the glue that holds together your cuisine, the restaurant theme, the level of service you look to offer, the authenticity of the experience.
Taking the advice of our team of experienced restaurant designers, who have worked in high end restaurants across many of the major cities of the world, this blog post is all about the features which help to create and support a great ambience. And it starts with the way you select and train your team.
The importance of service
The service that diners and customers receive is what will make or break their experience. You could have the most immersive restaurant interior theme in the world, but if the service does not make your diners feel valued then they will have a bad experience and you will find that the ambience and mood in your restaurant becomes negative.
Creating a great service means finding the right people to bring into your team and training them to become an extension of yourself in the business. They need to understand the end goal and the experience that you are trying to create for guests. All of this will frame the way a customer feels as they sit inside – and long after they have left – your restaurant.
Create a cohesive flow from the first step inside
Great ambience means that you have paired your space with the right kind of environment for those using it. For some restaurants that means lots of intimate dinner settings – for others that means a larger and more open plan bar area.
From the moment your diners or customers step inside, you want them to know what to expect in terms of the tone and setting of their meal. More than that, you want it to be clear where they need to go – with furniture placement and the layout of your space contributing to the way they navigate through the restaurant.
The takeaways here? Make sure the journey from entrance to table makes sense and create a layout which represents the vibe you want to create.
Consistent decoration
Interior decoration is the mainstay of the environment that you create within your restaurant and should reflect both your brand and the cuisine that you are serving if you are to create an end-to-end experience for diners.
Music!
The music in a restaurant is so often overlooked as a last minute decision, or as one determined by those on service at any given time. However, in the very best of restaurants, music is part and parcel of the ambience which is pre-determined and carefully selected to achieve the right tone of experience for every diner.
In terms of impacting your success as a business, music can also have a huge impact on the way a customer dines and spends money – with music affecting everything from the speed at which they eat to the amount of time and money they will spend enjoying drinks before and after eating.
To look at some examples, elegant and formal restaurants tend to opt for complex instrumental pieces, while romantic settings call for violins and light instrumentals, and kids’ restaurants keep it light and fun with playful tunes.
Focus on your colour scheme
This feature point is somewhat wrapped up in the interior design section – however, paying extra attention to colour scheme and colour tones is important if you want to strike the right balance for your customers.
The colour scheme you employ should make diners feel welcome and relaxed, while reflecting the theme, your branding, the type of dining experience they expect, and even how expensive the restaurant is. Find fun ways to inject branding colours into the design of your restaurant space, and don’t be afraid to go all out in the bathrooms of your restaurant where guests can be both surprised and delighted with an explosion of colour.
Finally… lighting!
So much of what we have discussed in this blog post would be redundant without the right lighting. The right lighting can change the tone of your restaurant setting in an instant, transforming it into a romantic environment, somewhere light and bright, a fun and colourful space, or somewhere completely neutral.
For support, advice, and more information on how to create a restaurant with great ambience, reach out to our team of restaurant designers today.